My experience working for Jeff Zhang at Citadel

My main job at the time was as an Equity Strategist at the time for the fixed income and equity strategy group at a bulge bracket investment bank. We used to have a meeting with Citadel, to present to them our outlook on the market and how that could impact the trades of the different asset classes they held in their portfolio. We would typically see 1 or 2 senior strategists, and 2 junior strategists to take notes for them.<br><br>I was paired up with Jeff Zhang as he wanted to see what the banks outlook was on the fixed income markets. Jeff was very nice and was taking detailed notes. At one point I mentioned that I believed the 10 year would go down due to the recent FED rate cuts. He looked at me in shock and said that he believed the opposite. I then asked him what made him believe the 10 year would go up. He mentioned that there is an inverse correlation between the 10 year and the 2 year rate, and since the 2 year rate went up, he believes that the 10 year would go down. I said that I thought that was a mistake on his part.<br><br>We kept talking and I told him that I believed the US 10 year would go down to 0.5%, and I think gold would go up to $1500/oz. He then told me that he believed the US 10 year would go up to 3.0%, and gold would go down to $1000/oz. I laughed at his comment and said that that was very foolish and reckless. He just said that it would be an interesting experiment to see if that was correct.<br><br>I did not hear from Citadel again for the next 2 years. However, in November of 2018 the 10 year rate was at 3.24%, and gold was trading at $1200. I then heard from Jeff Zhang again, and he invited me to a meeting with him. When we met he was in a bad mood, and he blamed me for being wrong in my market call. I told him that his market call was even worse than mine, as the 10 year was up 1 full percentage point from its peak, and gold was down 10% from its peak. He then said that he was not happy with how Citadel performed and he wanted to leave the firm. I told him that he should not leave, as the funds were up 10% in the 4th quarter. He then said that he wanted to leave Citadel and work for a different firm.<br><br>The next day I heard that he was leaving Citadel to start his own hedge fund. He took 10 other traders with him from Citadel to start his own firm. The first year of his fund was up 100%, and it had been consistently profitable since. He now manages over 100B in AUM.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>**